Steinberg VST Workstation Halion Sonic Operation Manual
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Heiko Bischoff, Masahiro Eto, Pierre Schaller Thanks to: Matthias Klag, Michael Ruf The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. The software described by this document is subject to a License Agreement and may not be copied to other media except as specifically allowed in the License Agreement. No part of this publica - tion may be copied, reproduced or otherwise transmitted or recorded, for any purpose, without prior written permission by Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. Steinberg, HALion Sonic, VST and ASIO are registered trademarks of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. Windows, Windows Vista and DirectX are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries. Macintosh, Mac and Mac OS are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Pentium and Intel Core are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. All other product and company names are ™ and ® of their respective holders. Release Date: June 4, 2010 © Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH, 2010. All rights reserved.
4 5Welcome 5Key command conventions 6How you can reach us 6Installation 8Getting ready to play 10About multis, programs and layers 12HALion Sonic interface 15Plug-in functions section 17Multi Program Rack 20Mix page 20MIDI page 21Editing programs 23Editing layers 24Voice page 27Pitch page 28Oscillator page 30Filter page 32Amplifier page 34Envelope pages 39LFO pages 42Step Modulator page 44Mod Matrix page 46Modulation Sources 47Modulation Destinations 48Modulation Modifiers 49Inserts page 50Instrument layer 53Expression Maps 54FlexPhraser 59FlexPhraser Phrases 59Drum and loop layers 67Quick controls 71Trigger pads 73Global Effects 74Effects reference 87MediaBay 90Options page 91Multi Chain 95MIDI controllers 98Index
5 HALion Sonic Welcome Congratulations and thank you for purchasing HALion So- nic by Steinberg. HALion Sonic breaks new ground in terms of perfor- mance, versatility and ease of use: you can now work more productively than ever before. HALion Sonic offers over 12 GB of first class synths, hybrid and acoustic in - struments, covering almost any conceivable style. With the purchase of HALion Sonic you have chosen the ulti - mate VST workstation, which is actually a joint venture project on its own: thousands of lines of computer code has been generated in the Steinberg Headquarter in Hamburg, Germany to build an instrument capable of playing back over a thousand ready to play sounds. Cre - ated by the Yamaha sound design team behind Yamaha’s legendary MOTIF synthesizers, this world-class library with up to 20 articulations per instrument covers an enor - mous range of styles, all the way from finest detailed acoustic instruments to legendary synthesizers, club sounds and soundscapes, from ultra-realistic acoustic drum kits to the latest hip-hop loops. All included sounds with articulations feature real-time control and support for Steinberg’s VST Expression, delivering easy articulation editing in Cubase 5. The massive library also includes over 1,500 patterns for the FlexPhrase module that drives beats, arpeggios and complex tonal phrases, plus auto - matic articulation switching. HALion Sonic is your go-to composition and production instrument, offering the com - plete range of sound-shaping and creative editing fea- tures you expect from studio-grade instruments. Yet HALion Sonic also shines when performing live: building keyboard or layer splits is absolutely effortless. Whether you are a musician, producer or both - HALion Sonic is certainly your first choice when it comes to breathtaking authenticity, extraordinary dynamic response and tonal depth available exclusively in this premier work - station virtual instrument, conceived and designed by Steinberg in collaboration with Yamaha. The standalone version allows you to use HALion Sonic without a host ap - plication – a great choice for performing live. It has two additional features: the quick-idea scratch pad, which lets you instantly store spontaneous ideas, and the metro - nome. Please don’t forget to register on MySteinberg in order to gain access to online support offers and additional ex - clusive services. And check out the HALion Sonic com- munity at our online forum, for tips and other useful information. We wish you a lot of musical inspiration working with your brand new workstation! Key command conventions Many of the default key commands in HALion Sonic use modifier keys, some of which are different depending on the operating system. For example, the default key com - mand for Undo is [Ctrl]-[Z] under Windows and [Com- mand]-[Z] under Mac OS X. When key commands with modifier keys are described in this manual, they are shown with the Windows modifier key first, in the following way: [Win modifier key]/[Mac modifier key]-[key] For example, [Ctrl]/[Command]-[Z] means “press [Ctrl] under Windows or [Command] under Mac OS X, then press [Z]”. Similarly, [Alt]/[Option]-[X] means “press [Alt] under Win- dows or [Option] under Mac OS X, then press [X]”. Please note that this manual often refers to right-clicking, for example, to open context menus. If you are using a Mac with a single-button mouse, hold down [Ctrl] and click.
6 HALion Sonic How you can reach us Clicking the Steinberg logo in the top right corner of HALion Sonic opens a pop-up menu where you find items for getting additional information and help: • On this menu, you can find links to various Steinberg web sites. Selecting one automatically launches your browser application and opens the page. On the web sites you can find support and compatibility information, an - swers to frequently asked questions, links for downloading new drivers, etc . This requires that you have a browser application installed on your computer, and a working internet connection. • When you choose the Help item, an online version of the documentation opens. • You also find a menu item for the registration of your product. For further information see “Register your software!” on pag e 7. Installation Please read the following section before installing HALion Sonic. The USB-eLicenser Many Steinberg products, including HALion Sonic, use the USB-eLicenser, a hardware copy protection device. HALion Sonic will not run without an eLicenser containing an activated license. The USB-eLicenser is a separate product, and is not included in the product package of HALion Sonic. The USB-eLicenser The USB-eLicenser is a USB device on which your Stein - berg software licenses are stored. All hardware-protected Steinberg prod ucts use the same type of device, and you can store more than one license on one device. Also, li - censes can (within certain limits) be transferred between USB-eLicensers – which is helpful, for example, if you want to sell a piece of software. The product package of HALion Sonic contains an activa - tion code, which is found on the Essential Product License I nformation card within the product package. To make un- limited use of your version of HALion Sonic, you must man - ually download a license to an USB-eLicenser connected to yo ur computer, and activate your permanent license us- ing the activation code. The eLicenser Control Center (which can be found on the Start menu on Windows systems or in the Applications folder on a Mac after installation of HALion Sonic) is the place where you can check the licenses installed on your USB-eLicenser, and activate new licenses. To check the installed licenses, click the “Enter Activation Code” button in the eLicenser Control Center and follow the instructions. • If you are using other copy-protected Steinberg prod - ucts, you may want to transfer all licenses for your applica - tions to one USB-eLicenser, thus using up only one USB po rt of your computer. Please refer to the eLicenser Control Center Help for information on how to transfer licenses between USB-eLicensers. ! !
7 HALion Sonic System requirements To use HALion Sonic, your computer must meet the fol - lowing requirements: Windows • Windows Vista and Windows 7 (64-bit version natively sup - ports 64-bit versions of Vista and Windows 7) • Pentium/Athlon 2.0 GHz dual co re mobile or dual core 2.0 GHz processor •2 GB RAM • Approx. 12 GB of free hard disk space • Display resolution 1280 x 80 0 pixels recommended • Windows DirectX compatible audio hardware (ASIO compati - ble audio hardware recommended for lo w-latency performance) • DVD-ROM drive with dual-layer support • USB component port for USB-eLicenser/Steinberg Key (li - cense management) • USB-eLicenser/Steinberg Key is required (not included) • Internet connection for license activation • For using as plug-in, a VST2 or VST3 compatible host is re- quired Macintosh • Mac OS X 10.5 and 10.6 • Intel Core Duo 2.0 GHz processor •2 GB RAM • Approx. 12 GB of free hard disk space • Display resolution 1280 x 80 0 pixels recommended • CoreAudio compatible audio hardware • DVD-ROM drive with dual-layer support • USB component port for USB-eLicenser/Steinberg Key (li - cense management) • USB-eLicenser/Steinberg Key is required (not included) • Internet connection for license activation • For using as plug-in, a VST2, VST3 or AU compatible host is re quired Installing HALion Sonic Since HALion Sonic provides a large amount of content, the porduct package contains two DVDs. Please have all DVDs ready, because you will be asked to remove one DVD and insert the next one during the installation. The installer of HALion Sonic allows you to save the content files on a different hard drive than the pro - gram files. Proceed as follows: 1. I nsert the first DVD into your DVD drive. An interactive start screen appears. If the interactive start screen is not opened automatically or if you have a Macintosh computer, you can man - ually open the interactive start screen by double-clicking the file “HALion_Sonic_Start_Center.exe” under Windows or “HALion Sonic Start Center.app ” on a Macintosh computer. 2. Follow the instructions on screen to start the installa - tion of HALion Sonic and browse through the additional op tions and information presented. If you do not want to install HALion Sonic via the interac - tive start screen, follow the instructions below: Windows 1. Double-click the file called “Setup.exe”. 2. F ollow the instructions on screen. Macintosh 1.Double-click the file called “HALion Sonic.mpkg”. 2. F ollow the instructions on screen. Register your software! We encourage you to register your software! By doing so you are entitled to technical support and kept aware of updates and other news regarding HALion Sonic. Proceed as follows: • Cl ick the Steinberg logo in the top right corner of the control panel and select “Register HALion Sonic now!” from the pop-up menu. This option is an intern et link that opens the re gistration page of the Steinberg web site. To register, simply follow the instructions on screen. !
8 HALion Sonic Getting ready to play The following sections describe how to use HALion Sonic as a plug-in in different host applications, or as a stand - alone instrument. Setting up HALion Sonic as a VST instrument in Cubase ÖThe following information refers to the use of HALion Sonic in Cubase. We assume that you have correctly set up Cubase as well as your MIDI and audio hardware, and that Cubase receives MIDI data from your external MIDI keyboard. If you want to use HALion Sonic in another VST host application, please refer to the documentation of the corresponding application. Cubase provides two ways of working with VST instru- ments: the VST instruments window, or instrument tracks. To access HALion Sonic via the VST instruments window, proceed as follows: 1.Open the Devices menu in Cubase and select the VST instruments option to open the VST instruments window. 2.Click on one of the empty slots to open the instrument pop-up menu and select HALion Sonic. 3.You will be asked whether you want to create an asso- ciated MIDI track connected to the VST instrument. Click Create. HALion Sonic is loaded and activated, and its control panel opens. A MIDI track called HALion Sonic is added to the Track list. The output of this track is routed to HALion Sonic. To access HALion Sonic via an instrument track, proceed as follows: 1.Open the Project menu, and select “Instrument” from the Add Track submenu. 2.The Add Instrument Track dialog is opened. Select HALion Sonic from the instrument pop-up menu. 3.Click OK to create the instrument track. Click the Edit Instrument button in the Cubase Inspector to open the control panel of HALion Sonic. HALion Sonic has now been set up as a VST instrument in Cubase. For more details about the handling of VST in - struments, see the Cubase Operation Manual. Working with individual outs HALion Sonic loads in a stereo output configuration by default. However, you can use up to 15 additional individ- ual outs in Cubase. This allows you to route all 16 pro- gram slots to a dedicated Cubase Mixer channel. To make these outputs available: 1.Open the Instrument window. 2.Click the output button for HALion Sonic instrument. 3.Activate the outputs you want to use. Cubase automatically creates a MIDI track for each addi- tional output and adds a channel to its mixer. You can now route HALion Sonic programs, layers or drum instruments (Slices) to these outputs for further signal processing within Cubase. Using HALion Sonic in an AU compatible application You can use HALion Sonic in an AU host application (e. g. Logic). The AU version of HALion Sonic is installed in your AU plug-ins folder and lets HALion Sonic work in an AU environment without any performance loss or incompati - bilities. For Logic Pro 8, proceed as follows: 1.Open the Track Mixer and select the desired instru- ment channel. 2.[Command]-click the I/O field, and select either Multi- Channel or Stereo from the pop-up menu that opens. 3.In the submenu that appears, select All instruments. Then select HALion Sonic. HALion Sonic is now loaded as an AU instrument.
9 HALion Sonic HALion Sonic standalone HALion Sonic can be used as a standalone application, independently of any host application. In this case, you can connect HALion Sonic directly to your audio hard - ware. • To retain your HALion Sonic settings, you must save them as a preset (click the disk symbol to the left below of the HALion Sonic logo). The Preferences dialog When running HALion Sonic as a standalone application, you can configure the application in the Preferences dia - log. To open the Preferences dialog, proceed as follows: • Click the Open Preferences button (the cogwheel sym- bol) to the right of the audio output field. •Right-click in the topmost section of the control panel and select “Preferences” on the context menu. The Preferences dialog has several pages in which you can ma ke the following settings: • On the MI DI Routing page, use the MIDI Input Port pop- up menu to specify a MIDI input. Use the Channel Filter option to decide whether HALion Sonic should record MIDI events on all MIDI channels, or only on one specific channel. Use the “Filter 'All Notes Off' Controller” option to avoid unwanted “All Notes Off” messages. Such messages are sent by some keyboards when the user releases the last key. This causes HALion Sonic to stop playback, even when the sus - tain pedal is still in use. • On the Audio Routing page, use the Audio Output Port pop-up menus to assign different audio outputs. HALion Sonic supports 32 channels: two Main channels (left and right) and 15 additional stereo channels (left and right). You can assign differ- ent audio outputs for each channel. Selecting an audio output on the p op-up menu maps the output to the corresponding channel. If you press [Shift] and select an audi o ou tput, the front and rear channels are set to incrementing audio output ports – e.g. 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, 6, 7, 8. If you press [Alt]/[Option]-[Shift] and se lect an audio output, the audio out- puts are assigned in pairs to the front and rear channels – e.g. 1, 2, 1, 2 or 5, 6, 5 , 6. •On the Metronome page a number of settings can be made regarding the use of a metronome: OptionDescription Mode Here you can turn the metron ome on and off or set it to Count In mode. Accent Activate this to accentuate the first beat of each bar. Level Use this fader to adjust the volume level of the metro - nome. Connections Here you can select a separate stereo output for the met - ronome. • On the General page, activate “Don’t prompt for confir- mation when quitting HALion Sonic” if you want HALion Soni c to close without prompting when quitting the pro - gram. • On the ASIO Driver page, select your audio hardware driver from the ASIO Driver menu. If you plan to use several audio ap plications simultaneously, you may want to activate the option “Release Driver when Application is in Back- ground”. This will allow another application to play back via your audio h ardware even when HALion Sonic is running. The input and output latency values for your audio hardware are dis- played. “Latency” is the amount of ti m e it takes for your system to re- spond to any messages that are sent to it. High latency results in a noticeable delay between when you press a key and when you hear the sound. Below the latency values, the sample rate that is set for the con - nected audio hardware is displayed. When you run HALion Sonic, there are several processes fighting for ac - cess to processor time in your computer. The parameter “Audio Priority” al lows you to determine which processes have priority: • Once you have selected the driver, open the Advanced page to specify which inputs and outputs should be used and name these. Click the Control Panel button to open the control panel for the audio hardware and adjust the settings as recommended by the audio hardware manu - facturer. Click here to open the Preferences dialog.
10 HALion Sonic Missing content There may be situations in which a content file becomes unavailable. The reason can be a closed encrypted parti - tion or a detached removable hard drive, for example. In these cases, you will be prompted that a specific VST Sound Library cannot be informed. To access the content again, proceed as follows: 1.Click Ignore. HALion Sonic is loaded, containing the content that could be found. 2.Quit HALion Sonic. 3.Reattach the removable hard drive or reopen the en- crypted partition. 4.Launch HALion Sonic. If content files or models are missing for another reason (e. g. if you moved them onto another hard drive after in- stallation, or if you have added a hard drive, thereby “shift- ing” the partitions), proceed as follows: 1.In the window with the message regarding the missing VST Sound Library, click Locate if you want to choose a different file location. A file dialog opens. 2.Browse the directory where the content is located. 3.Select the file and click Open. All content files that are found in this location become available. •Click Remove if you do not want HALion Sonic to search for a particular file in the future. ÖYou can activate the “Do not ask again” option if you want to ignore or remove all missing files at once. About multis, programs and layers Multis HALion Sonic is a 16 times multi-timbral plug-in, which means that you can load up to 16 sounds so-called pro - grams, to combine them. This combination is called multi. You can use them, for example, to layer several programs or to quickly create split sounds by setting multiple pro - grams to the same MIDI input channel. The most common usage, however, is to create sound sets with different in - struments set to individual MIDI channels. Programs A HALion Sonic program can be understood as a complex instrument or sound which combines up to four so-called layers. Load a few programs and go to the Edit page to see how those programs are constructed. Often, a pro - gram contains a single layer which already comes with all necessary components such as the synthesis part or in - sert effects. This is because a layer already is a complete sound structure on its own. The program adds the possi - bility of combining different layers to build up even more complex sounds or to create combinations of sounds you want to load as a unit. A typical example would be a bass / piano split sound or a piano / string layer sound. Because of the various layer types which come with HALion Sonic, these combinations can do a lot more. For example, think of combining a pulsating synthesizer se - quence with a sliced loop completed by a bass on the lower keys and so on. Finally add some effects on individ - ual layers or on the whole program and you will get a unique sound experience. You will find that the options are endless. Layers Each of the four layers of a program can use one of the five different layer types that come with HALion Sonic. You can choose between synth, sample, instrument, drums and sliced loop layers. Each layer type is based on an individual sound architecture and provides an adapted editor.